KOTA KINABALU, Nov 20 — Children under 12 years’ old account for 12.15 per cent of all Covid-19 cases in Sabah, said Datuk Seri Masidi Manjun.

The Sabah Covid-19 spokesman said the state Health Department found that the state’s cases involved 3,030 children and babies.

“Of the number, 1,241are under five years of age, and 191 are under one year old. So you can see, they are as young as under one year old,” he said.

Masidi said that the children were also eligible for help under Mental Health and Psychosocial Support Service (MHPSS) that includes Psychological First Aid (PFA).

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He said that the support team reached out to parents and guardians of the children while they were still under treatment to ensure they were mentally healthy.

Children in treatment centres have access to books, stationary and counselling when needed, art therapy, music therapy, dance and storytelling. 

He said this during the thrice weekly virtual press conference on Covid-19 matters.

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The state today saw high numbers of Covid-19 cases again following the discovery of a new cluster in the east coast of Lahad Datu.

The state, which has been the worst hit in the country, has 512 new cases today, a reduction of 148 from yesterday.

However, Masidi said that the number of cases were still at a manageable level, with hospital and treatment centres at 35 per cent capacity

“We are prepared for high numbers. Obviously, certain hospitals are more in demand, like Queen Elizabeth and the Likas Women’s and Children’s Hospital in Kota Kinabalu. Those are at 68 and 61 per cent capacity respectively,” he said.

Meanwhile, the Duchess of Kent Hospital in the east coast Sandakan was 59 per cent full.

Sabah is currently waiting on 4,496 samples to come back.

The state has seen a total of 25,442 Covid-19 cases in total, of which 2,268 are still active.